System requirements: Macintosh with System 7.1 or higher; or PC with Windows 3.1 or Windows 95, CD‐ROM drive, sound card, minimum of 486‐grade processor and 8 MB of memory. Uses QuickTime version 2.11.50, which normally should be installed from the CD‐ROM. The software uses the standard Windows setup wizard and provides for deinstallation of both the Statistics program and QuickTime.
This reviewer has experienced several Windows 95 fatal exception errors (the “blue screen of death”) on two different machines. It is recommended that the user should at first use this software with caution. In particular, avoid running other software with the Statistics program, as one might have to reboot. QuickTime is needed only for the “movies.” The CD‐ROM can still be used quite effectively without installing it. Technical support is available at 800‐WE‐THINK.
The product comes with a single user, single computer, stand‐alone only user license. The license explicitly prohibits networking. The buyer owns the CD‐ROM.
This multimedia study guide fills the age‐old need for a supplement to textbooks in elementary statistics. By reason of new technology alone, it represents a considerable advance over paper‐only guides, such as the venerable Schaum’s Outline Series. The paper volume has the look, feel, and whiff of good, practical teaching. For example, the summaries “in a nutshell” are given up front at the beginning of each chapter or “topic.”
Mnemonic and visual devices to help solidify newly acquired concepts are scattered throughout the text, such as the clever BINS mnemonic for binomial distributions (see pp. 192, 239). The chapter on sampling distributions has sections entitled, “Why is this topic so hard?” and “What can you do about it?” The authors have clearly concentrated on the forest concepts ‐ problematic to many students ‐ in order to be able to guide them through the tree problems.
The self‐testing questions are designed to show the process of solving the problem, not simply to provide the opportunity for empty problem solving as in the old programmed‐learning books. The authors’ style is direct, informal, and engaging. Interesting, unusual examples have been chosen to spice up the narrative. For example, consider the self‐study question on p.185, treating the survey by Erin Moore (Oberlin class of ‘95) whether men should put the toilet seat down when finished. Calculus is avoided. Probability is delayed until the later chapters. There is no index. Nor is there a key linking the book’s chapters to those of the leading textbooks.
The CD‐ROM is divided into three parts: Welcome (Introduction), Review Topics, and Test Yourself. The Welcome section consists of 21 pages, which the user navigates sequentially. The other parts, however, are not page‐numbered as they have been designed so that the student can determine the sequence of topics. The user can create a set of notes using a command that brings up a Notepad file. On some screens, there are instructions to the student to look at other topics first or to review the material in a certain order. To enable this kind of navigation, the software gives the user the ability to insert bookmarks to return to favorite screens. Words represented in the glossary are given in blue. A mouse click brings up a box with the definition. Other key words appear in red. These hyperlinked “hot” words will go to related material on different screens. Returning to the original screen is difficult, as there are no forward and back buttons, except in the Welcome section. There is an option to return to previous pages; but it requires several clicks to bring up a list of previous pages and the description of the pages there sometimes will not clearly identify the page to the user.
There is also a search capability across all screens; but, unfortunately, it is limited to a single term. The term “chance error” is used in the self‐testing questions of chapter 6. It was not mentioned in the text of the chapt er and cannot be found via the search function. The CD‐ROM would benefit if the user were always presented with the option to navigate linearly along a predetermined path as well as to jump to new screens and return to the screen of origin or intermediate screens. It would also benefit if, instead of the written narrative on how to use the features of the CD‐ROM software, the user were given an interactive tutorial demonstrating how to navigate and use the other features.
The heart of the CD‐ROM lies in the sections dealing with specific topics, such as probability distributions. There are no navigation problems within these largely self‐contained sections. There is introductory text, often accompanied by visual representations of the key concepts, which the author calls “concept maps.” Some concepts are displayed within buttons. If the mouse hovers over these buttons, diagrams or commentary will display in a pop‐up box.
There are also many self‐test questions. These questions are chosen in random order and are interactive. There is usually a Hint button; and many of the possible answers in a multiple‐choice list are highlighted in blue; so a mouse click brings up the glossary definition. After a choice is made, the program responds appropriately. These questions are organized in sets, within which navigation is easy. I find this approach very appealing and believe it would benefit most students, particularly those with more of a visual than a verbal bent.
There are many good web sites dealing with statistics and statistical reasoning. One is
Chance (http://www.geom.umn.edu/docs/ snell/chance,) which concentrates on probability and includes the full text of the classic Finite Mathematics by Kemeny, Snell, and Thompson. An energetic student could learn quite a bit on his own from this site. But it is really geared toward teachers; and it does not give a complete view of elementary statistics.
Another good site, StatLib (http://lib.stat.cmu.edu) is also primarily for teachers. Its DASL directory (Data and Story Library) has an index of “stories” (examples of statistical problems) by methods. Students could use it to look at examples and data sets illustrating concepts they find difficult. This CD‐ROM, however, is richer and offers students all the material they need in a user‐friendly pre‐digested form.
The book and the CD‐ROM do not appear to have been integrated. Each one could easily stand alone and be used in isolation. Individual preference and learning style will determine whether a student relies on the verbal book or the more visual and interactive CD‐ROM. I suspect most students would use the book’s organization to browse through the topics on the CD‐ROM. Recommended.
